what
by ihated14yearoldme
Summary: w h a t god why why was i b O RN


He surfaced finally, bobbing around in the waves as he noted his surroundings. Wait, he was all the way by the Junes Food-court?! He hadn't even realized he went so far out! He noticed a few people loitering around, so he ducked back under the waves and swam along the reef until he reached the dock stationed by his uncle's house. His boat was gone, as usual. The man was part of the water police, and he could never seem to find time to come home. He wondered what the hell happened out there that they needed to spend so much time patrolling and working on cases. Eh, whatever. It wasn't his business to be poking around in. He checked for anyone passing by before heaving himself up onto the wooden platform. He dragged himself along until his tail was halfway up despite the fact his feet would have been on the dock by then. He began drying off, letting his legs replace the appendage. He stepped up the pathway to the house and unlocked it, stepping inside. Nanako glanced over. "Oh, you're back! Welcome home!" She smiled, before going back to the television. He wondered why she spent so much time in front of it when she could be playing outside. He shrugged it off. He wasn't going to try and parent her. He smiled at her greeting. "Yeah, thank you." He went to his room for the afternoon, before Nanako called him down for dinner. Dojima was home, sitting on the couch and looking exhausted. "Hello." He greeted his nephew. He nodded in response and sat at the table. The news came on. The reporter started talking enthusiastically about sightings off the coast as she stood on the beach. His uncle sighed at the report. "That's what's been keeping me out all night. We keep trying to tell them it's not a shark, they wouldn't come this close. We've been trying to figure out what it is for a while now. Most people think it's a dolphin of some sort, so we also gotta make sure no one does anything stupid. We're spread pretty thin, everyone's been working overtime." He stiffened at his words. Could it be that was him they saw? He wondered, before Nanako's voice broke his thoughts. "Aren't you hungry?" She asked. He began eating as to not worry her, but in all honesty, no, he wasn't. It had just hit him how much worry he had put into the town just because he was swimming around, not to mention he now had people trying to figure out what he was. Perhaps he should lay low for a while and stay near the houses, nowhere near crowded areas. He sighed mentally as they ate in silence.

"Duuuuude~!" Yosuke called as he walked down one of the main streets. His friend pedaled up next to him on a new bright orange bike, cruising beside him. "What's up, partner? Haven't seen you around lately!" He grinned slightly. "I've been busy." He replied. "Oh yeah? With what?" He couldn't tell him. He couldn't even tell him, his first real friend. "The house. Someone has to keep it clean and cook dinner." "Dude, you cook dinner and clean the house?" "It's the least I could do. Nanako used to do both, I felt bad." "You're awesome, man." He grinned, chuckling, before riding head first into a metal pole and slightly denting it. He glanced up at the sign as his friend tried to recover. It let the world know the main docks were up ahead. Yosuke managed to stand and began walking his bike next to his friend instead of riding. "Geez, that hurt. I really should have been paying attention to where I was going." He cracked a smile while clutching his head. "Oh well, live and learn, am I right?" He nodded. Yosuke noticed the docks approaching on their right. "Hey wanna go check it out? You haven't been there yet, have you?" He shook his head. He hadn't stood on it with legs before. They walked over, Yosuke pointing out boats, important things, signs, and whatnot. "Hey, y'know there's a rumor going around about a shark coming 'round here? Everyone's all hyped up about. I even saw it on the news last night." "Really?" He questioned. "Yeah! Sharks usually don't come around here, that's why it's so weird. Some people also think it's a dolphin though, so I'm not sure what to think personally. I think both are exciting. What do you think it is?" He shook his head. "I don't know." Yosuke glanced up at the sky. "It's a nice day out, wanna head over to the beach? I don't have my trunks though, so we can't swim." He smiled and nodded. If Yosuke didn't have a swimsuit to go in the water with, he wouldn't have to worry about getting wet. Mostly.

Yosuke had invited more friends to head over with them on the way. Chie and Yukiko showed up, along with Kanji. The group of five relaxed in the sand and joked around the whole day.

\- next day -

He lazily floated around in the water, keeping the family dock in sight so he didn't stray too far from it. He finally sat in the sand, simply looking at the area around him. The sound of an engine caught his attention as a shadow blocked out the light. He looked up to see the bottom of a boat. He panicked and pushed himself up, ready to bolt out of there. He had never allowed himself to be so close to one before and it had caught him off guard. He calmed himself down and tried to see who's boat it was and figure out what it was doing there. He quietly surfaced and peered at the name printed across the side. 'Lorelei'. He had never seen or heard of this boat before. That was strange. What was it doing here? "Yukiko, this boat is awesome! I can't believe your parents took us out on it!" Chie? Yukiko? Did they own this boat? "We just got it. We're only doing a test run right now." "It's still cool! But why're we heading towards Yu's house?" They stepped out onto the deck and he ducked under the water again. He could still hear bits and pieces of their conversation over the motor. "... Don't know... Parents don't... Steer it yet... You do, Chie?" Of course Chie knew how to steer a boat. She was obsessed with motorboats and driving them around. She didn't have a license yet, so she usually had to go with one of her parents. He lost track of the conversation as he thought, glancing around. He'd just have to stay under the water and hope for the best- that they didn't know he was there. "Radar... Something up... The water." A new voice joined the two. He recognized it as one of the chefs at the inn. "Really?!" Chie shouted, so loud he could hear her perfectly. His eyes widened slightly as he pieced together what they were saying. He dived under the boat, staying towards the front so they wouldn't see him. He couldn't hear what they were saying anymore, but he didn't really mind. He just needed to stay out of sight until they were gone.

It had taken a boring while, but finally they were gone. He really would need to be a lot more careful next time. It was still early, so he decided to walk around and see what his friends were doing in town. He spotted Chie walking down the road and she noticed him, lifting an arm up over her head and waving. "Hey!" She called, running over to him. He stopped in his walking to greet her. "Guess what!" She exclaimed. "Yukiko's family just bought a boat a few days ago and she took me out on it today! It was awesome! We passed by your place, but you weren't there." He nodded to show he was listening. "Oh-!" She exclaimed in surprise. "Oh yeah! While we were over there, Mr. Saisuke, you remember him right? He's the chef, he's also great with boats. Anyway, Mr. Saisuke said something showed up on the radar right next to the boat, but it turns out there was nothing there. I hope it's not broken. Me and Yukiko thought it might have been that mystery dolphin." She laughed. "Maybe it was." He smiled down at her. "Maybe! Anyway, we're going to be on it again tomorrow, wanna come with us?" "I can't, I'm sorry." He apologized. "Oh, why not?" She questioned. He sighed. Now he had to make up an excuse. "I have to help Nanako with the house again." "Oh yeah, you guys are home alone all day, aren't you? Well, good luck and have fun!" She called, jogging away. "I've gotta meet back up with Yukiko!" He raised an arm in half a wave before walking off in the other direction. He wondered what everyone else was doing. "Yo, Senpai!" He turned at Rise's cheerful voice. She ran up next to him, wearing a sundress over a swimsuit. A very wet swimsuit. "Hi there." "Hey! Do you wanna go swimming with us? It's so nice out!" He really didn't want to turn her down, he already had another friend that day. "I'd rather stay on the sand." He told her. "As long as you're coming!" She cheered, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the beach. At least her arms and hands were dry, he told himself. Naoto, Kanji, Teddie and Yosuke were there as well. "Hey, partner! We called you, but you didn't answer! You didn't change your cell number on us, did ya?" He shook his head and took out his phone to check it. They must had called while he was out swimming. "Anyway, you coming in? Water's fine!" He joked. "Yeah, Sensei, you should come in with us! I can see it now-!" Yosuke efficiently covered his mouth so he couldn't finish his sentence. "You're one annoying bear, y'know that? Anyway, you coming in or no?" "I'm sorry, I'd prefer not to. I didn't bring a bathing suit." "Haha, no problem! We're probably gonna get out soon, anyway." He nodded in reply. "So~ Senpai, what're you doing over here, anyway?" Rise asked as the others went back to swimming. "I decided to see what you guys were doing." "Bored?" He nodded. "Let's build a sand castle then!" "... Alright." They began working on the base, building it upwards from there. In the middle of their job, loud shouting caught their attention. "Hey, what's going on?" Rise questioned. Two adults were rushing into the water, shouting at someone in the distance. "Someone's drowning." He stood up rather quickly, before hesitating and staring at the ocean. He shook it off and ran into it, diving into the deeper part. "Whoa, Bro! What're you doing?!" Yosuke questioned as he rushed by. He swam forward, tail forming and enabling him to go faster. He reached the kid quickly, grabbing him and keeping him above the waves. He bobbed there with him, trying to think of what to do. The sound of the boy's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "You're a merman!" He nodded. "That's so cool! Thank you!" He smiled. "I haven't gotten you back yet." The parents were in rather deep themselves, so he simply swam up to them and hoped they didn't notice his tail. While they were fussing over their child, he ducked under the waves and got out of there. He finally resurfaced in a deserted area of the beach, far away from any people who may be wandering around. He dragged himself onto the sand until he was out of the waves' reach, laying on it and going over what he just did. He was careless, but he couldn't just let that kid get pulled further out. His tail flopped on the ground, useless, as he tried to get himself dried off, with no results. He sighed and flopped down on the ground again, arms spread out and getting his hair full of sand. "Bro?" "Yu~!" "Narukami!" His head shot up at the voices. They sounded really close. Shit. He began pushing himself back into the water, hoping to get in deep enough to swim before they saw him. He managed to almost get there when they turned the large cluster of rocks. They stared at each other for a split second before he pushed himself further back and sped away.

Oh, shit. He paced back and forth in his room, thinking intently as he continued to glance out the windows. This... This was not good. He was nearly certain they hadn't seen his tail, but they were bound to question why he had done what he did. He walked over to the wall and banged his head against it. Stupid, stupid, stupid... If only he had waited for a lifeguard to show up or something. He sighed mentally, pushing the thought out of his head. No, he wouldn't have been able to do that. A lot could have happened in that short amount of time. He plopped back down on his couch and rested his head on the back. He made on last desperate attempt to calm himself down. Maybe they wouldn't ask about it at all.


End file.
